Stocking



y 1942- J. P. MITZEL 2,282,873

STOCKING Filed Feb. l0, 1941 lhwentor; JOHN F? MIT EL inw Gttonxeg S Patented May 12, 1942 N'l OFICE.

STOCKING John P. Mitzel, Derita,, N. 0., assignor to Larkwood Silk Hosiery Mills, 'Inc., Charlotte, N. 0., F

a corporation of North Carolina Application February 10, 1941, Serial No. 378,144

6 Claims. (91. 66-182) This invention relates to an improvement in sheer hosiery and more especially to a novel heel construction employing reinforced areas atthe junction point of the foot portion and the heel tabs, and in wales of the leg portion adjacent the heel portion where the wales are topped for knitting the foot portion.

It is a well known fact that one of the most critical areas in a ladies full fashioned stocking is along the line where the leg portion is united at the foot portion. A majority of hosiery manufacturers employ two machines during manufacture, namely, a machine called a legger and a machine called a footer. The leg portion, including the heel tabs, is knitted 'upon the legger and then certain loops on the leg portion and heel tabs are topped onto the footer bar and then transferred to the footer for knitting the foot portion. The topping operation is performedmanually and very often some of the threads forming the loops are split by the points on the footer bar, resulting in only a part of the thread at this point being knit with the first course on the footer. This results in avery weak Wale. Due to the general construction of the hosiery, the loops at the heel corner have a greater strain thereon during Wear than the other loops. Therefore, it is necessary to have added reinforcement at the heel corners.

Another difficulty heretofore encountered, even where the topping was perfectly performed, has been the overcoming of the added stress at the heel corners created as a result of the wales at the heel corners changing their direction. In a conventional full fashioned, stocking, the wales extend almost vertically downwardly until the lower heel tabs are reached and then the wales extend in a substantially horizontal direction throughout the foot portion. Since the instep of the wearer tends to stretch the stocking a greater amount at the upper portion of the lower heel tabs there is a resulting increased stress at the heel corners which should be taken into consideration in fabric construction.

It is an object of this invention to provide a stocking devoid of the reinforced heel and having a reinforced area at the junction of the heel tabs, the foot portion and the leg portion of the stocking so that the stresses at these points will not break the loops and cause runs. Such a construction reinforces one of the most critical points, leaving other portions not subjected to greater stresses, to be made of light weight sheer material.

Some of the objects of the invention having welt portion l2 and leg portion I3.

the foot portion 20.

been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, in which- Figure 1 is a viewof a completed stocking embodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is 'a View of the lower portion of the leg of the stocking shown in Figure 1, prior to the same being attached to the foot portion, and subsequently looped and seamed; V

Figure 3 is a View similar to Figure 2 but showing the foot portion knitted onto the lower end of the leg portion;

Figure 4 isa sectional view taken along the line 4-4 in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 5--5 in Figure 3. Referring more particularly to the drawing, the numeral I0 broadly designates a full fashioned'stocking having a welt portion ll, shadow The leg portion I3 has knitted integral with the lower portion thereof, suitable spacednon-reinforced heel tabs IS, the lower ends of which are narrowed as at IE to give the proper shape to the heel after the stocking is seamed and looped along the edges l1 and 29, respectively. Upon the completion of the leg portion, using double construction, the loops along dotted lines I!) and 21 are topped upon a suitable footer bar and are transferred to a machine called a footer. The excess portion Isa which is disposed below the topping line I9 is ravelled orotherwise removed from the footer bar so that the bare loops of the course indicated by dotted line l9 will be knitted with At the same time, the knitting from dotted lines 21 is carried out.

It is a well known fact that the most critical points in the construction of a full fashioned stocking are the points which are located at the junction of the heel tabs and the leg portion of the stocking and the heel portion commonly known as the heel corners. These points are designated by the reference characters 24 in Figures 2 and 3. In order to reinforce the wales and courses of a sheer stocking at these points to prevent runs from occurring, suitable rein forced areas are provided in leg portion l3, said wales being designated by reference characters 38, 39, 40, 4|, 42 and 43, and each of said areas being designated by the reference character 36.

Any desired number of reinforced wales and courses may be provided, and this invention is not limited to the number shown in the drawing. Four of the reinforced wales namely 40, 4|, 42 and 43 extend downwardly along each of the proximate edges of the heel tabs [5 and throughout the length thereof forming portions 35. The remaining portions of the heel tabs except as indicated in the drawing are not reeration, the points of the footer bar are also inserted along topping lines 21 of the reinforced strips 35 of the heel tabs as well as along topping line I9, thereby causing the points on the footer bar to penetrate both edges of the two heel tabs and the instep of the leg portion along topping lines If]. Lines 21 are usually loose wales caused by a boning operation.

In the present embodiment of the invention, the lines 21 are disposed upon the third wale from the edge of the heel tabs and between wales 42 and 43 (Figure 5). It is to be understood however, that the topping lines 21 can be located along any desired wale in the reinforced portions 35. After the foot portion has been knitted onto the leg portion, the stocking assumes the position as shown in Figure 3 after which the ends of the heel tabs are placed upon looper points along lines 29 and then the excess portion 29a is ravelled or otherwise removed so that the bare loops of the looper points will unite the tabs. The other portions of the stocking are seamed as at l l, as previously described.

It will be noted that the reinforced areas 36 appear in the leg portion l3, of the completed stocking. When these reinforced areas reach the heel tabs and merge into portions 35 only one coursenamely 43 of each reinforced area is interknitted in the body of the stocking so as to be visible from the exterior. This visible reinforced area formed by wale 43 is designated by the reference character 35a. The remainder of the reinforced strip 35 is not knitted into the body of the stocking but instead is floated on the inside of the stocking forming a loose flap 35b attached only along line 21. In other words, single strand loops are employed in the stocking at all areas except areas 35a and 36 and 26, where multiple strands loops are used. If desired toe portion 30 can be reinforced.

By employing this type of construction, it is seen that a sheer stocking is produced and having the critical points 24 reinforced so that the increased stresses will be taken care of to eliminate runs in the stocking. The narrow reinforced strips 35a along the junction lines between the heel tabs and the foot portion gives an added reinforcement which supplements the reinforced area 36 to distribute the stresses exerted upon the area 36 throughout the heel.

In the drawing and specification there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention, and although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A stocking comprising a leg portion, heel tabs, integrally knitted to the leg portion and being of the same weight fabric as the leg portion for a substantial portion of their length and having the lower tip portions of said heel portions reinforced, a foot portion joined to the leg portion and to one edge of each heel tab, a reinforced area in the leg portion at each of the junction points between the leg, the heel tab and the foot portion, and a second narrow reinforced opposite sides of the stocking, the leg portion having a pair of reinforced areas disposed immediately above the endof the loose course in the leg portion forming the topping line between the leg and foot portion, said reinforced areas also extending along proximate edges of the heel portions and includingthe loose wales employed as a topping line whereby the reinforced wales in the edges will be disposed on the inside of the stocking as loose flaps.

3. A stocking comprising a leg portion, heel tabs, a foot portion and a toe portion knitted from a single strand throughout the leg portion, heel tabs and foot portion down to the beginning of the toe portion, excepting a few wales beginning a few courses above the topping line in the leg portion near the junction point of the heel tabs and the leg portion, and a few wales from the inner edges of the heel tabs and the tips of the heel tabs, some of said reinforced wales in the leg portion extending below the topping line in the leg portion, so that when the leg portion and heel tabs are topped in the reinforced areas, the reinforced wales in the heel tabs will be disposed on the inside of the stocking and the reinforced areas in the leg portion above the topping line will appear at the heel corners as reinforced areas having a straight lower edge disposed at right angles to the topping line in the heel tabs in the finished stocking.

4. A stocking having its leg portion, heel tabs and foot portionof the same weight material throughout excepting the lower ends of the heel tabs and the toe portion and a few adjacent reinforced wales beginning a few courses above the topping line and some of the wales extending past the topping line to the lower edge of the leg portion and the other adjacent reinforced wales extending along the proximate edges of the heel tabs, the remote reinforced wales of the heel tabs being loose wales so they can be topped at the same time the lower portion of the leg portion is topped, whereby when the foot portion is knitted the major portion of the reinforced wales will appear as a flap on the inside of the stocking and reinforced areas will be visible in the leg portion immediately above the topping line and at the junction of the leg portion, the heel tabs and the foot portion.

5. A full fashioned stocking having a leg portion, heel tabs and a foot portion, the lower end of the leg portion having a loose course and the heel tabs having each a loose wale spaced from their proximate edges, whereby a topping line isformed for topping onto a footer, the leg portion, the tabs and the upper section of the foot portion being of single thread construction and having reinforced areas disposed immediately above the junction point of the loose wales with the loose courses and having reinforced wales along the proximate edges of the heel tabs including the loose wales and having the extreme tips of the heel tabs reinforced, whereby when a topping operation is carried out the reinforced Wales along the proximate edges of the heel tabs will lie on the inside surface of the stocking, and reinforced spots will be visible on the exterior surface of the stocking immediately above the heel corners and at the lower back portion of the heel.

6. A full fashioned stocking of the sheer type having a loose course spaced from the lower end of the leg portion and having a loose wale disposed a few wales inwardly from the proximate 

